Is the Premier League the best in the world?

Ronaldo, Rooney, Adebayor, Gerrard - of course the Premier League is the best in the world. It boasts the best players, the most excitement, the greatest goals. That's why the rest of the world cannot wait for the "39th game". Or can it?

Bill Edgar's statistical analysis today suggests that this may not be the case. Take this damning evidence:

Fact - Competitiveness based on the points gap between first and second, the champions and fifth place and the distance from first to last is down 10 per cent since 2001-02
Fact - Goals per game are down 7 per cent
Fact - Shots per game are down 5 per cent
Fact - ticket prices are up 29 per cent
Fact - the long ball game is up 7 per cent

By clicking on the image above, you will find even more reasons why England's boast could be full of hot air.

Are supporters being left short-changed by the dominance of the rich clubs? Are we trying to sell sub-standard goods? Is Sepp Blatter correct in saying the only reason the clubs want to go on tour is to make some money, rather than displaying the best product on offer?

What do you think - is the Premier League the best in the world or is the claim just over-inflated hype?

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Comments

[James Driver]

Most games in La Liga and Seria A are boring, non-events. This is why their grounds are mostly empty.

The premiership games are more existing to watch and ths is why they have a global following.

Sport is entertainment so by this measure, the premiership is the best.

[steve]

La LIga and Serie A? LOL You're all idiots

I am from North America and my ethnicity is Asian. I can tell you this.....Over here in North America and Asia, love EPL.... Serie A is THE most boringest football in the world and La Liga???? Half the population dont even know what La Liga is....hehehehe I know Football isn't so big here in North America, but the EPL is so Big that we recognize it here. People of the USA only know Ronaldhino, Everyone else....rubbish. Our TV networks only holds England football, some have Serie A but La Liga, nada fools. We got south Americain footy even before LA Liga! Anyway World Statistics indicate EPL, most watched sporting event. Point finale, enough said

[eddie t]

i'd say the premiership is the best in the world. Most people pick out Italy and Spain being the best, and (I hate to use this term) the EPL is all about four teams. But surely la liga is all about barcelona and Real. AC Inter and Juve dominate serie A (until the scandals a couple of years back that messed the whole thing up). I think the Premiership has the best players and their are more teams in contention. Newly promoted teams can survive eg Reading. As for entertainment i'd rather watch footballers sliding around in the rain and snow then sweating away in the mediteranean sunshine, as paul weller once said - that's Entertainment!

[jeremyinoz]

The EPL is the league most people want to watch, everything else is secondary.

[Sergio4Ramos]

The EPL as the best league in the world? Hell No! The best league in the world is La Liga, then Serie A, then EPL and closely behind are the French Ligue and the German Bundesliga. Get this, Robinho, Ronaldinho, Messi, Sergio Ramos, Sergio Aguero, Eric Abidal, Van Nistelrooy, Eto'o, these guys are just some of the best in the world and they play for La Liga. Kaka, Del Piero, Trezeguet, Pirlo, Totti, these are some of the best and they play in Serie A. How could EPL stand a chance against these players and the quality of the teams they play for. For the past years, European competition has been dominated by Spain and Italy! Enough said! Viva España!

[Ernesto Colagioia]

I think that the Premier League is the best of the world. I'm from Argentina, I ussually like watching Premier's games. I support for Manchester Utd. The Argentina's league had lost the best players, They are playing in Europe and somebody in Mexico, so the level of the local matches had gone falling.
Bye

[ruben]

I think the spanish liga is one step ahead if we talk about quality teams, tactics so quality games and the premiership is one step ahead if we talk about marketing, money transfer( wasted in crap players most of times), publicity and image around the world.

[david]

La LIGA is the best.

[harty]

Still can’t beat the Italians
The Spanish league full of South Americans, is also stronger in depth than the Premier League

[NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO]

The football in LA LIGA IS better Than premiership.

[Theo]

Is the Premiership the best league in the world? The question seems to come up repeatedly each year. If it were people would not keep asking. The simple answer to this is that it is not, far from it. There are four teams, Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool who are infested by foreign players. These teams are attractive and the only ones worth watching, purely because of the foreign element. The rest are not. Broadly speaking, the style of the British game is as it was 100 years ago when other nations were just being introduced to the game. The long ball to nowhere and then the chase is still the makeup of the English game bar the four elite teams.
The best league is probably in Spain and Italy for their organization and the best football played in South America in Brazil and Argentina. Football is about possession and ball on the floor exchanged at great speed. To achieve this requires skills, the kind which the Premiership is lacking. Arsenal is probably the only British club trying this and succeeds frequently.
To prove the notion that the best football and hence leagues are those played in Italy, Spain, Brazil and Argentina let us examine the pinnacle of the world football platform; the World Cup Championships.
There have been 18 World Cup championships since 1930. Latin countries have won 14 of those; Brasil-Italy-Argentina-Uruguay-France. The none Latin winners are 4, Germany 3 and England 1.

[Zeus Dormer (untd fan)]

I would have voted but you seem to have made it impossible for me.
In the NO column you have arguably the best player in the premier league and in the YES column probably the most overrated (torn between him and Crouch). I will never vote for anything to do with Gerrard so the answer unfairly and wrongly is No.
P.S. I congratulate Gerrard on what looks to be a very succesful gathering of trophies again this year. cheers Barnsley.

[chris]

best in the world at what?
quality footballers?
entertainment?
goals?
value for money?
look at france spain italy and to a lesser extent germany and tell me why any of these leagues is any worse than our own.

[xabi]

spanish league is the best without doubt

[Emanuele]

Del Piero, Totti, Ibrahimovich, Kakà, Pato, Trezeguet, Buffon, Vieira, Toni, Inzaghi,...Italian League is the most interesting and difficult 'cause there are the best defensors and a lot of international valued players. When Inter 'll stop steal matches Italian League 'll be the best in the world!

[Sulai]

I am shocked at the statement that Steven Gerard is found wanting against the worlds best. Is this the same Gerard who single handedly won Liverpool the Champions League a few seasons ago against the Worlds best teams. How manny times has Gerard won games for Liverpool. He is a great player.
I am sorry but you are found wanting. I think the England Debackle is more about lack of tactics.

[Liz]

Spain

[richard dow]

most money in the world? yes, every game hyped up to a frenzy? yes,
can some of the defenders trap a ball? nearly(and occasionaly play a pass),
I have already said this, this week.
last 2 world cup winners how many of them played in the big weekend (last weekend(til next one))
mmmm none I think

[steven]

Best league for £ and marketing

ONE of the better leagues for actually playing football...

Is better than the Dutch, French, Brazilian and Argentine; Arguably better than the German; Difficult to come up with a winner against the Spanish and Italian... (I am beginning to wish that those long forgotten plans of merging the Old Firm had now succeeded -- that would have been an eye catching league and likely to have stuttered the path to devolution!)

[Kevin Rossiter]

Look at the whole premier league.

All good teams, unlike spain and italy

[jon b]

Hello
The Premiership is not as entertaining as the 80s Old First Division.
The Premiership was supposed to increase the standard and excitement of football. However all Ive seen (im 32), is a marked increase in athletism, and a marked decline in the good clean slide tackles and especially, especially ball dribblers/flair players.

In the 80s, every old first division team had a ball dribbler, and/or a great playmaker, that would go around people during the game. It was exciting, like watching the skillful kid on the playground, tongue hanging out, skinning everyone for skill. So too were the crunch and clean slide tackles. Just like in rugby or nfl, people love physicality of a hard-but-fair game. PLus the excitement of knowing that any ten teams could win the league at the start of the season, that your team had a real chance of winning. Players could dribble and play on plastic pitches, mudbaths, bowling green pitches

Contrast that with the bland, soulless powerdriven football of the premiership, that can only be "played" on bowling greens.

It appears football's domestic and international (Brazil havent been Brazil for twenty plus years now) golden age was from 1960to1995

Give the ten top 80s first division teams the athletism of today, and they would regularly beat todays premiership elite

jon

[Clive Kitchener]

The article asks the wrong question.
The question should relate to whom does the Premier League benefit? The answer is it's the best league for the overpayed millionaires, who bleat about how many games they play.It's the best league for overpaid managers ,who when they fail get vast payoffs.It's the best league for foreign investors. It's the best league for BSKYB. For the fans it's the most expensive pastime, it's they who pay through the nose for the playboys of football, & managers that get their fat salaries ---never a one of them questioning their inflated incomes compared to their fans poor incomes. Fans should also question the loyalties throughout the game. No sooner has a player or manager had a better offer, off they go to a club that has ' a great history,the best fans etc. etc.'
Bringing back sanity to the English game is a forlorn hope!

[Martin]

If anyone was at the Chelsea v Liverpool match last week end they would have witnessed a remarkable match where professional footballers developed the new skill of passing to the opposition at every opportunity, if they can export this to the world god help the rest of the world.

[Richard Ferguson]

I think that Gerrard has found wanting when measured against the world's best, but Rooney does have a legitimate claim for world-class status. I suppose by any measurement the Premiership is a very successful league, their latest venture into foreign parts reminds of the Gecko quote (Wall Street) "Greed Works"

[Kula]

The beginnining of the article is "(...) of course the Premier League is the best in the world."

And at the end of the article there's a poll to vote "Is the Premier League the best in the world?"

Result - almost 60% says "NO".